Pitcher George Foster, star of the Red Sox hurling staff in the 1916 world’s series, announced today that he had quit the game. He will devote his future to raising hogs. The contract Boston offered Foster this season specified a cut of $2000 in salary. This is said to have prompted Foster to quit. Foster is building one of the biggest hog ranches in [Oklahoma].

I can see why he’d have been upset. Foster was still in his 20s and a good pitcher, had a career ERA+ ...

A massive government spending bill that Congress is expected to consider this week could include a provision exempting Minor League Baseball players from federal labor laws, according to three congressional officials familiar with the talks.

The exemption would represent the culmination of more than two years of lobbying by Major League Baseball, which has sought to preempt a spate of lawsuits that have been filed by minor leaguers alleging they have been illegally underpaid.

Scioscia said they aren’t yet sure when Ohtani’s next start would be. Assuming five or six days rest, the schedule he’s been on all spring, that would be either next Thursday or Friday.

It’s also possible he could pitch in a minor league game so they can ensure he gets up to the 90 pitches he needs to start the season. Ohtani threw only 50 pitches in Friday’s game, then went down to the bullpen for another three innings worth of work, Scioscia said.

Friday, March 16, 2018

Wally Schang is playing third base for the Red Sox in their practice skirmishes [in Arkansas]. Manager Barrow will not admit that Schang will continue to hold down the hot corner, but he keeps the former Philadelphia catcher right out there facing sizzlers.

Babe Ruth at first, Johnny Evers at second, [Everett] Scott at short and Schang at third is the line-up of the infield right now.

Man, things are so bad in Boston that they’ve got a pitcher playing first ...

Al Timme, president of the Milwaukee club, is probably the busiest man in the world today, answering communications from baseball men who want to manage the Brewers, now that it is clear Ned Egan, hired for that job, is out of the game for the year. Egan, who injured his spine in a skating accident, is in a bad way.

When I first saw this, I thought it was kind of amusing: An ice skating accident ending a manager’s season. But the more I read about it, the more ...

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

At all levels of Minor League Baseball, extra innings will begin with a runner on second base. The runner at second base will be the player in the batting order position previous to the leadoff batter of the inning (or a substitute for that player). By way of example, if the number five hitter in the batting order is due to lead off the 10th inning, the number four player in the batting order (or a pinch-runner for such player) shall begin the inning on second base. Any runner or ...

The story of how Arthur Fletcher nearly lost a pair of fingers from his right hand reached [New York] on Thursday. The star Giant shortstop was trying to count the revolutions of the fans in his motor with the two fingers. He escaped with bruises.

He was back in spring training with the hope of playing again. He wasn’t doing much, but the hope was there, pending further medical evaluations. Now those evaluations are in and, while not necessarily surprising, are not good.

The mystery as to why Harold Ruel of the Yanks was nicknamed “Muddy” was explained by [Yankees team secretary] Harry Sparrow, who says it is because Ruel’s uniform while at Memphis was always the color of the Missouri, part of the Mississippi river. He never had his unirofm washed while on a hitting streak, and, as he always hit well, the flannels never saw any water.

Bill James mentions a completely different story in the Historical Baseball Abstract, in which ...

Monday, March 12, 2018

The 32-year-old Walker, who had been working out at the free-agent camp in Bradenton, is entering his 10th Major League season. His signing could signal the Yankees’ intent to have touted prospects Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres begin the year in the Minor Leagues.

“I don’t control that,” Torres said. “I control playing my game every day and making progress every day, staying humble and trying to help my team. I don’t know what happens right now.”

That’s a pretty good contract for a guy who is trending in the wrong direction.

The Phillies made a remarkably bold move Sunday, particularly for a team that still considered itself building for the future. Sources told MLB.com that the Phillies and Jake Arrieta have agreed in principle to a multi-year contract, pending a physical. MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports it’s a three-year contract worth $75 million—Arrieta will make $30 million in the first year, $25 million in the second and $20 ...

An unusual and interesting feature of the spring training of the St. Louis Americans is focusing the attention of the fans upon Shreveport, La., for there Jack Powell, fat and middle-aged, is attempting what, if successful, will prove one of the most remarkable come-backs in the history of baseball.

Powell, who twirled for the St. Louis club during the team’s first year in the American League, and who left major league baseball in 1912, is paying his own ...

Moustakas is a good player. He’s not a great player. He’s also the type of player who has lost value…slow, mediocre fielders with one above-average tool (a tool that is plentiful in the market). Boras should have gotten him signed earlier.

Boras, his agent, had misjudged the market. Moustakas lost nearly $10 million in the process in 2018. Yet as Boras, Moustakas and Moore gathered for a group media session on Saturday morning, Boras questioned the “integrity” of ...

Last February, Bauer made waves on Twitter when he argued over politics with his followers. He tweeted that almost all of the Indians supported Donald Trump and told another user they were “welcome to quit life.”

Bauer has been much calmer as of late and that could be because MLB stepped in. The 27-year-old hasn’t tweeted that much this offseason and when he does it’s been about things like the Olympics and his training.

“He’s basically like a high school hitter because he’s never seen a good curveball,” the scout said. “He’s seen fastballs and changeups. And you’re asking a high school hitter to jump to the major leagues?”

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Saturday brought the news that they had reached agreement with veteran right-hander Lance Lynn on a one-year contract, according to a person with direct knowledge. Remarkably, it was for $12 million with another $2 million in potential performance bonuses. .

Lynn, 30, had turned down a recent two-year, $20 million offer from the Twins, according to a person with direct knowledge, but the two sides kept talking amid a historically slow-moving market.